The Chained Wolf | Chapter 2 - The Wolf

Chapter II - The Wolf



The return journey had not been eventual, the brothers had told Derzell that a few hours after their departure the Bishop and the Master Inquisitor had arrived at the monastery demanding an audience with the Master of the order and that the two had argued for a long time in the office. The brothers had not been able to hear what was happening on the other side of the door because some knights of the Inquisition had stood guard at the door, but thanks to an open window there was perhaps talk of an investigation in progress and that, the Master had to leave a business in the hands of the Inquisition.
Starion had spent the whole journey in silence and when Derzell had finally asked him what was going on, he remained cryptic, evading questions and explaining only that Father Lucius knew and that a storm was coming.
Derzell, however, was happy again, the sight of the monastery of Lazriel always filled him with nostalgia. He had lived there since the age of five, learning the way of the warrior monks of Santo Luper and the knowledge of the scholars.
The building sat on a high and steep hill with rocky walls, at the foot of which was the small village of Lazriel where the peasants resided cultivating the monks' lands and tending to livestock. Wheat, leeks, wine and grappa were the typical products but there was no shortage of bee farms for honey and hydro-honey as well as dairy products of which Derzell was particularly fond. But at that moment cheese was the last of his thoughts.
When he and Starion had returned to the camp, all the servants who had accompanied them and their horses had been torn to pieces. While they were looking at the village, they had heard nothing. It wasn't the first time he and Starion had gone out on missions, but so many demons... He had never realized how dangerous his enemies were up to that point.
The corpses had been loaded onto a wagon on the way back so that they could be buried in the consecrated lands of Lazriel while the corpses of the church had been buried in the village in the Deer Valley.
-Starion? - Derzell asked.
Starion stared forward as if he hadn't heard him.
-What would have happened if we had failed? - Derzell asked worriedly.
Starion turned to Derzell, his expression amazed by the question - Well, we did it, didn't we?
-Well, of course, only... Suppose that those demons had not been so hungry or that the child had reopened the portal? There were five of them and they were not coordinated, yet only one was enough to kill our servants!
-Derzell, - Starion said in a calm voice, placing his hand on his confrere's right shoulder, -We did it, that's all that matters.
Derzell sighed - you're right, sorry brother.
-No need to apologize brother, you tasted the bitter taste of battle for the first time. A real battle in which our enemy was our equal. Nevertheless, Valtur protects us, don't forget it brother. - Starion tried to support his confrere.
-Thank you brother.



The heavy wooden doors of the monastery opened in front of the procession. Brothers inside the monastery rejoiced like the crowd of villagers outside who had followed them in procession to celebrate.
Derzell and Starion had been led to the front of the procession with the master of order immediately behind the two.
Some villagers threw flowers or offered them to the other knights who had recovered them.
Entering the cloister, they entered a large square in front of the large church of the monastery. They knew that square well, from there they had entered decades ago with their parents and passed through it every time the order had to defend its possessions or respond to the calls of Holy Mother Church.
From there they had seen many new confreres enter, fewer and fewer in recent years, and many confreres leave, too many who had never returned.
In that courtyard they had the only contact with the outside world except the missions, often seeing the villagers below enter to celebrate and receive mass from Brother Orion, the priest of the Monastery of Lazriel.
And right there Brother Orion was waiting for them with the Thurible, steaming with incense, in one hand and the Scripturas, the sacred text followed by all true Valturians, in the other. He was dressed in a white chasuble with a dark blue stolon bearing the chained wolf of the order and a golden call to salvation together with various floral decorations. His grey eyes were focused on reading the sacred text that he now knew by heart, moving quickly over his wrinkled and emaciated face. He too, like the master and the two knights, wore the collar depicting the chained wolf.
When they arrived in front of their brother Orion, Derzell and Starion stood still while the rest of the procession knelt. In two days of travel, they had never had the opportunity to wash themselves completely except in those places where he had cut himself. It was part of the ritual and Derzell followed the order and considered himself lucky considering that the journey had only been two days.
Four altar boys, dressed in long tunics with a dark blue collar, made out of cloth instead of the steel-like material used by the adult confrere decorated with a white robe, rushed to help the two knights remove the heaviest plates of the armor and carry them to other servants hidden behind columns. Meanwhile, Brother Orion waved the thurible and recited a prayer in Larin, the ancient language of the Empire of Baium that had dominated those regions for centuries. The language of the clergy and the aristocracy.
All parts of their armor had been removed except for their collars, now that they were wearing only the lightest robes the two knelt carrying their hands in prayer and keeping their eyes closed and their heads raised to the sky.
Orion gave the Scripturas to an altar boy. The priest approached the two knights continuing to wave the thurible. Two altar boys arrived with a ceramic basin full of water. Orion cleared his throat and closing his eyes announced, -Brothers, you have fought the forces of darkness in the name of our lord Valtur and won! Your presence honours our order and strengthens the community. Valtur blesses and protects you and now, like wolves after hunting, we offer you brothers our care. - Derzell was always amazed by Brother Orion's voice and timbre; despite his slender body, his voice was powerful and echoed throughout the cloister.
The two altar boys poured the water on the two knights, it had been kept warm and on that, cold autumn afternoon Derzell appreciated it. The crowd rejoiced to see the two confreres purified from the blood and dust accumulated on them. On entering the monastery, they were freed from any ailments that had attached themselves to them and received communion through water.
Two brothers in white habit arrived with woollen blankets to cover the two knights. A third came and gave a sack to Starion.
Starion bowed and took the bag.
Derzell, Starion, and Orion moved away slightly. Then Starion, spilled the contents of the bag. The demon bones left behind in the catacombs fell to the pavement alongside some bloodied ones that some confreres had collected from the demons that had attacked them in the forest and in the village.
Waving the Thurible, Orion blessed the rocks with incense and recited other blessings. Then he cried out against the rocks - Oh demons who have tempted our brothers, have fed on their flesh and threatened their souls, you are now prisoners of the knights of Holy Luper, a servant who sits at the right hand of Valtur. As your executioner, I condemn your souls to oblivion! Your bones are now our trophy!
The soft light emanating from the bones intensified but then disappeared. Derzell and Starion collected the demon-lapis, now free from demon souls and ready to be destroyed so that no mortal soul could be trapped or placed into them.
The crowd shouted joyfully and outside the monastery, a band of musicians who had begun to play must have had gathered for Derzell could hear a muffled tune coming from outside.
Their mission was now over, they could return to the monastery.



A few hours had passed since the end of the ceremony and finally, after a hot bath, Derzell could sit down with his beloved confreres and enjoy a meal worthy of a party, dressed in the comfortable friar's habit and having only to bear the weight of his collar like all the other brothers.
The long and tall building of the canteen offered a spectacular view from its narrow and high windows of the valley that opened to the south-west following the Sermitano river on which several boats travelled to transport the minerals extracted from the Centralia massif to much more important rivers.
Some altar boys carried several silver plates full of game, and various dishes cooked in crusts. He remembered when he was an altar boy in the order, alternating lessons with manual work that in other places would have been left to servants.
A dish of honour was brought to him, a slice of Timbale of tortellini cooked in a bread crust accompanied by a slice of cheese and honey.
-Brother! Tell us more about the winged beast! - called a confrere of Derzell.
Derzell swallowed the morsel and took the glass of white wine in his hand.
-Starion and I had just killed the deer-shaped beast, suddenly a thud, we turn around, and see that the fallen one was our servant or... - His face was now gloomy, was it right to ignore that servant as a simple detail of the story? He was certainly not a confrere but he too had contributed to the mission and had sacrificed himself in the name of Valtur.
More than him, that man had supported the martyrdom of the flesh, now his soul was certainly with Valtur but no one would have written his deeds because he was an ordinary villager. One of the many squires and volunteer assistants who left to accompany the knights of the order on missions. While he, of noble blood, was there to talk about it as if it were a simple piece of meat, a tool to complete his mission. Wasn't it written that Valtur loved and appreciated every man, sinner or saint, noble or poor? On the other hand, it was for this reason that altar boys were serving so that they learned that there were no distinctions except in work.
A loud thud interrupted Derzell's thoughts; Starion's fist had fallen on Derzell's table. Derzell had returned to the present as if awakened from a deep sleep.
-Brother Derzell, I need you. - Starion said.
Derzell got up and followed his confrere. Maybe he shouldn't have told about the servant? He had certainly sinned.



The two walked under the colonnades of the cloisters in silence until they reached the palace of the offices. Starion knocked on a door three times and then waited five seconds to knock twice very quickly.
The door was opened from the inside. The master of the order was at the door, and another man in a tunic was watching him. The red decorations with gold inlays depicting parchments and pens made Derzell understand that he was a monk of the order of Santa Clio. His eyes, adorned with large eyeglasses, darted here and there lively and curious, an energy that was also carried by her grey hair, which, despite having receded to the rose of his hair, remained long.
-Please, brothers, come in. - Father Lucius said, stretching out his arm.
Derzell entered, behind the Master of Order, an immense library of Law Books, Government Treatises, Philosophy Books and some manuscript copies of Larin classics.
-Would you like to participate in the tasting of this wine, brothers? - Lucius asked, raising two chalices towards Derzell and Starion. Two other chalices sat on the table, each with different levels of wine. Derzell initially considered it but did not have time to show retreat on his own as Starion took care of it with a curt -No!
A map of the monastery's territories sat near a fireplace, the possessions of the monastery of Lazriel, and all the other monasteries in Centralia seen from the other side with several miniatures of activities carried out and sacred symbols.
-This is the esteemed brother Ernesto de Merlandi of the order of the Clianini. - Starion said, introducing the guest.
Ernesto nodded to a bow, which was repeated in turn by Derzell and Starion.
-I have heard of you, I think I have read his Vitae Luperti, a very interesting work that one. - commented Derzell, in reality he had found that work very contrite, especially in some comments inserted by Ernesto on the martyrdom of the saint and the quotations were very confused with several grammatical errors, but he did not want to spend time criticizing the work of that confrere who, despite everything, had celebrated his patron saint-martyr in a respectful way.
-Oh, brother Derzell, sire, you flatter me! However, you see, it is I who admires you, two warriors of the faith, future martyrs who emulate in all respects your holy father who inspired you! I watched the ceremony today for you. Wonderful, simply wonderful! - Ernesto exclaimed with a slight tremor in his voice.
Father Lucius stood up alongside Merlandi - Brother Merlandi is writing a new work on our beautiful peninsula of Centralia and intended to write a passage on our monastery and our order. Brother Derzell, can you accompany him to our archive?
Derzell was confused, had they interrupted his dinner for so little? Couldn't an altar boy have done it? Hiding his wounded pride, Derzell made a gesture of bow and replied - It will be my honour.



They entered the monastery library, tall and heavy bookcases containing manuscripts and rolled-up parchments, some of the brothers were copying ancient parchments by hand while others were reading and repeating in low voices.
-For being a warrior order, I see you are well stocked, brother! - observed Ernesto.
-You see brother, our order was much larger years ago and we had fewer books. Since some of our monasteries have been requisitioned or abandoned, we have begun to collect their libraries. - Derzell would have liked to answer further and show the offense to the implication of being simple rough and uncultured warriors but he chose not to give in to his fury.
-Unfortunately, I heard brother; your order was much more widespread among the different Lordships of Centralia, Another damage of the plague I suppose. - commented Ernesto.
-That and the lordships prefer to refer to the Inquisition to counter demonic forces. The holy church provides the Directives on its own, but each Lordship directs the local Inquisition in its own way. - Derzell replied.



The two advanced through the library at the center of which old weaponry were kept as memorabilia alongside skulls of now extinct creatures of myth. Between them there was a dagger made of the same metal the order's collars were made of.
-Is that Portalite? - asked Merlandi stopping at the sight of the dagger.
-Yes, brother, the order specializes in the fight against demonic creatures and so far that's the only way to stop the bind between a mortal corpse and a demonic soul. For exorcism religious rites seem to work well. - replied Derzell.
-I noticed that your collars are also made out of portalite.
-Correct.
-So this means that your order does use of lots of magic?
-No, magic is a double edged sword and often than not it is more dangerous , the mission from which me and brother Starion returned from was due to a child magic user who lost control. - Derzell replied
-Odd, I thought non magic users exposed to portalite to gain a reduced capacity for magic.
-That is the case but it is one of our vows to never use magic. - the subject was starting to annoy Derzell and remind him of bad memories.
-and how many of your brothers suffered from portalite-skin? - asked Merlandi
The question made Derzell recount the many brothers he has seen with deep blue skin around their neck and their slow and painful deaths.
-Far too many.- he replied.
Before Merlandi could utter another word, Derzell took the initiative - Brother Merlandi, this subjects that you are approaching are painful ones, which I have no desire of speaking about. However,you will find all your answers into the archive.



The two advanced among the books to a spiral staircase that descended into a narrow cellar. Down there, the old scrolls sat on dusty and salty shelves to prevent mould from damaging them. Down there only candles brought light.
In the centre of the room, a long table on which a friar worked. The room smelled of milk and wet flour. On one side of the table, several basins filled with milk-soaked several parchments. One confrere sprinkled others with flour while another took heavy boulders and placed them on some parchments still covered with flour that were now dry. On the opposite side of the table, a confrere who was given pressed parchments carefully began to pass pumice stone and clay to remove the ink.
-Brother Delendo. - called Derzell.
The friar, intent on erasing the ink, stopped and looked towards the staircase.
-Brother Derzell? - He asked squinting.
-What are you still doing here, Delendo?
-We are cancelling, brother, what else do you want us to do? Upstairs, the scribes need twenty parchments for tomorrow! - Said Delendo returning to delete - And of course when did they tell us they needed them? After today's ceremony! The altar boys, for Valtur's sake, are asleep, as it should be! Moreover, we poor people sacrificed to work all night for a job that takes at least two days to do it well. Then the paper costs, so woe betide you to buy it new, no?
Derzell turned his gaze to Ernesto, who was astonished and blanched as he watched the passages.
-What's the matter, brother, don't you do it at your monastery? - Derzell asked.
-Ye... Yes... but usually they are bureaucratic documents contemporary to us! Is that by any chance Lumbaric what I see? - He replied horrified and embittered.
The confrere who was placing the sheets in the milk stopped and took the parchment. He blanched and then called - Delendo.
Delendo stopped - Yes?
-Brother Orion had said that this scroll could be erased, right? - asked the confrere.
-Didn't you say that it could be deleted? That it had already been copied? - Delendo asked in turn.
Silence fell in the room.
-Well, anyway for ancient parchments of the order, you can ask these three brothers. - Derzell concluded.



Going up into the library, Derzell could hear the three confreres arguing furiously down in the archives. Ernesto had wanted to stay there to mourn the lost heritage.
Many scribes and scholars had left the library. The place had fallen into darkness and cold with many candles extinguished to avoid disasters in the night. From the large windows the light of the moon entered, illuminating certain areas.
Derzell looked out. The village, like the monastery, was slowly falling asleep for the night except for the guards who wandered the streets with a torch in their hands.
-Who goes there? - called a voice from the entrance of the library, a guard with a torch was watching inside
-It is I, Brother Derzell, I'm waiting for our guest to finish their work in the archive. - Derzell replied, raising an arm in greeting.
-Forgive me, brother, I did not recognize you, may Valtur bless you, brother! - greeted the guard in response returning to his patrol.
Derzell resumed looking outside, at the mountains, the moon, the village, the valley. Suddenly, however, something disturbed him; the silence had been interrupted by a rhythmic sound that the longer it went the longer it increased in immensity.
He heard the guard say, -Who goes there? - followed by a terrible scream.
The guard's body was thrown into the library against a shelf that collapsed on itself. Derzell rushed to the guard's rescue, lifting the heavy books, the pieces of wood, and the dust. The guard was still alive but full of bruises as well as a few gashes on his arm.
At the door, an immense creature watched Derzell and the guard. The figure was difficult to distinguish against the light but his huge eyes reflected the rays of the moon.
Without hesitation, Derzell drew the sword of the guard and prepared to defend himself.
The creature entered the library and charged towards him.
Derzell managed to dodge some attacks but without potions and in the dark he was in serious difficulty.
The creature growled and screamed in a similar way to a wolf and like it, in addition to using its huge claws, it tried to bite.



Derzell tried to hit him with his sword but a handful of the creature threw him near one of the windows. With difficulty, he tried to lean on his elbows but his shoulder must have been out of axis because no matter what he did it did not show signs of moving and only caused him pain. With his right arm, he leaned on the sword and weighing on it, he pulled himself to his feet.
Then with one hand, he pointed it towards the darkness.
The creature walked out of the darkness into the moonlight beam.
Derzell was stunned; a mythical creature that they thought was extinct. A creature that only a few confreres had seen. A werewolf, a half-man, half-wolf creature. The grey fur, the bloodshot green eyes. its neck was missing several parts of its fur and the signs of something that had shrunk him for years to mark his skin like a heavy and inflexible collar.
The creature gnashed its teeth and growled. With a leap, it rushed towards Derzell.
Derzell mustered all his strength and forced himself to hold the sword with two hands, lunging forward and then sliding down as he held the sword upwards, piercing and cutting through the flesh of the creature who yelped as it began to bleed on the stone floor of the library.
The creature held its wound yelping, Derzell did not wait any longer and with great difficulty threw himself on it using his sword as a cleaver and disfiguring the creature. When he had no more energy, he took the sword and stuck it in the creature's neck. It gasped screaming and choking in its own blood, Derzell, began to punch it causing it to lose a canine.
However, this was not enough to kill the wolf who forcefully threw Derzell away, throwing him against the shelves.
The creature managed to draw the sword out of its neck and began to wield it as its weapon. Derzell stood up in pain and staggering. He had to eliminate that creature before it eliminated him or anyone else. The creature stood up limping and began to walk towards him, alternating on its hind legs and arms.
The creature took the sword using it as a cleaver, Derzell managed to graze the attacks with great difficulty finding himself retreating until the creature stuck the sword against a bookcase.
The two had reached the center of the library and Derzell was now standing near the weapons among which the dagger stood out. He brandished the dagger and taking advantage of the opportunity; Derzell jumped up and threw himself against the creature's sternum, impaling the dagger inside the first wound Derzell had inflicted. The creature began to yelp. Every time the dagger was inserted and removed, it started glowing. The dagger revealed the demonic nature of the creature and was deleting the bond between the animal soul and the body. It shone brighter and brighter each time Derzell pierced the creature while staining the floor and his right arm with blood.
The creature fell to the ground. In fact, unlike the demons made of corpses, it did not fall apart but rather it was starting to turn back into a human. With its last breaths, the creature, hung on Derzell's collar and snatched it off him by kicking him to the other side of the room
Derzell felt a very strong pain in his neck that reverberated throughout his body as a great burning that was added to the pain of cuts, bruises and cracked bones.
Covered in blood and dust, Derzell could barely breathe. Slowly even the light of the moon began to dissipate, plunging the room into darkness.